NDP MP Leah Gazan Urges Governor General to Issue Honorary Pins to Residential School Survivors

OTTAWA -Ahead of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, NDP MP Leah Gazan (Winnipeg Centre) is urging Governor General Louise Arbour to recognize the trauma and sacrifices made by residential school survivors to put us on a path to reconciliation with formally issued pins.

In a letter sent to the Governor General on Monday, MP Gazan emphasized the heroism of survivors who have courageously shared their experiences of genocide before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to advance reconciliation. “Survivors have made great sacrifices to share their stories that have come with great personal costs. The act of sharing their stories is truly heroic and deserving of formal recognition. We must ensure the sacrifices they have made are recognized,” she wrote.

The full text of the letter can be read below:

I write to you today with a profound urgency regarding the terrifying and escalating rise in residential school denialism and the dire risks this poses to survivors of residential schools, their families and Indigenous nations. With an increase in residential school denialism, survivors must be protected. Their gift of stories allowed Canadians to learn the true history of Canada.

Residential school survivors bravely gifted their truths, sharing experiences of violence, loss and resilience that Canada needed to hear. Their gift of stories allowed Canada to understand the truth of Canada’s history and provided a path toward reconciliation.

Survivors have made great sacrifices to share their stories that have come with great personal costs. The act of sharing their stories is truly heroic and deserving of formal recognition. We must ensure the sacrifices they have made are recognized. This is why I am writing to urge you to support an initiative to distribute survivors’ pins, like Order of Canada medals, to residential school survivors to ensure they are recognized and respected.

Survivors must always be treated with the utmost dignity. They are Canadian heroes whose adversity demands recognition. Survivors have courageously shared stories about the genocide they experienced at the hands of the Canadian state. Their stories have helped attempt to build a better country for all of us. They are living proof of the historical truth. There remain survivors who fear speaking up. Denialism keeps them silent. The “Final Report of the National Truth and Reconciliation Commission” stated that this truth is necessary for “awareness of the past, acknowledgement of the harm that has been inflicted, atonement for the causes, and action to change behaviour.”

We are seeing an ongoing and disturbing rise in residential school denialism across Canada that is not only violent towards survivors, families and communities, but is also jeopardizing the steps we have made towards reconciliation. As the Honourable Murray Sinclair stated, “The people who believe that they have the privilege of holding power and should continue to have that privilege, they’re going to push back… They’re going to fight against reconciliation. They’re the deniers of this story. They’re going to say it never happened. That the schools were all about education and the Indians should be thankful that they got an education.”

All possible means must be used to combat this hateful attempt to spread misinformation and subject survivors to further violence.

Survivors’ pins could help raise further awareness about the history of the Indian Residential School system and ensure survivors are treated with the utmost respect and dignity by the public. These pins would be a physical symbol to indicate the injustices survivors faced and the need to be compassionate and caring for what might be going on in their spirit. In addition to distributing these pins, a campaign is also necessary to educate the public on the significance of these pins and on how to ensure survivors are treated in a trauma-informed and kind manner.

I look forward to discussing this initiative with you. We must act urgently to protect the truth and stand against residential school denialism.